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What Did You Do Today?
JW_Halverson:
--- Quote from: Eric Krewson on June 11, 2025, 10:22:45 am ---I went down into the woods behind my house to see if the chanterelles were up yet, because of drought we didn't have any last year, the crop was very sparse the year before as well. We are 10" of rain over the normal average for this time of year, the mushrooms love the increased rainfall. I like to dehydrate them to use later, looks like I have some picking to do today.
I picked behind my backyard and about 100yards into the woods. There was pretty good early bloom, I picked just about everything that was big enough to use.
It took a while to wash the mushrooms and fill the dehydrator trays.
I couldn't get another mushroom in the dehydrator; the trays are packed full. I bought this dehydrator for $10 off the Facebook Marketplace, it only uses convection, no temperature control or fan but is huge and gets the job done. Using this dehydrator, it will take a day and a half to completely dry all of these mushrooms.
--- End quote ---
The only two mushrooms I can trust to identify correctly are the morels and puffballs here in the Black Hills. Anything that looks like a morel IS a morel, same for the puffballs. We have chanterelles here, but I am not confident that I could identify them correctly and from what all the books say if you are in doubt leave it out!
I love the description of the flavor profile of chanterelles: "They boast a complex flavor profile, characterized by a delicate balance of earthiness, nuttiness, and a slight hint of fruity apricot. The texture of chanterelles is also noteworthy – tender yet meaty, making them an excellent addition to a wide variety of dishes."
I dunno, sounds to me like pan frying fresh ones in butter by themselves would be a dream come true! A nice glass of wine, some cheese and crusty bread. Yeah, I'd be fine.
Eric Krewson:
Chanteralles are unique with their false gills underneath the cap and unmistakable, they were the first mushroom I felt confident to eat. I never eat a mushroom until I have looked it up in my mushroom book and watched at least 4 or 5 you tube videos about it. Now I pick oyster mushrooms, chanterelles, puffballs and of course morels if i can find one which is rare.
There is only one imposter for chanterelles called the Jac-o-lantern, chanterelles grow singly with occasionally two or three coming up together in the same spot. Jack-o-lanterns come up in a big clump that might have ten stems out of the same root base. jack-o-lanterns have distinct gills and red meat; chanterelles have white meat.
These are the false, branching gills on a chanterelle, the smooth chanterelle doesn't have the false gills underneath. There are several varieties of chanterelles with the golden to be the most prized.
Eric Krewson:
I walked down to the street to get my trash can after garbage pick-up, looked down in the woods and saw a blaze of orange, chanterelles and lots of them. I had never seen them in this location.
I picked a wash tub full in less than ten minutes; these were very big and had just bloomed.
I had them washed and in the driers in no time.
After picking such a huge number of mushrooms, I needed to find them a home. My brother Joe is a brilliant chef and said he would take them.
The late Ma Gail (my sister-in-law) was always my best buddy; people were always dropping canning jars off at her house from their parents estates and such, she shared a lot of them with me.
A couple of years ago someone who was either a heavy drinker or had a bar dropped off a few cases of commercial moonshine jars. These jars came in amber and clear and were made to look like a mason jar but hold 750ml instead of a quart. After all, you have to drink "real" moonshine out of a Mason jar.
These jars looked like they had been stored in a barn for years but a free jar is a free jar so I took them home, they have thick glass and are very well made.
A trip through the sink, Dawn detergent and my special bottle brush made them look new again. I followed the initial scrubbing with a trip through the dish washer with the high temp air dry on to sterilize them.
I use these jars because they are perfect for sending edible stuff through the mail, so far, they have always arrived unbroken.
All of my freshly dried mushrooms filled a gallon zip lock bag, I suspected these would fill 3 of my amber moonshine jars, I was right.
Because this is such a huge amount of mushrooms, I opted to vacuum seal the jars for long term storage until my brother needs them. Stored this way they will be usable for up to 30 years.
Off to Knoxville;
I hope some overzealous DEA agent doesn't open the box in transit and think these are the other kind of mushrooms, it could get messy.
Pappy:
Nice haul Eric, I was out packing yesterday and seen the chanterelles are just coming here, should be a good year but better get on them, they don't usually last but a few weeks around here. :)
Pappy
Eric Krewson:
Corn freezing day, the local Amish sell it for $4 a dozen, I bought 4 dozen ears.
I froze the corn in the shuck, no blanching, vacuum sealed it last for years in the freezer.
I traded wild turkey feathers for this huge vacuum sealer years ago, it weighs 25#, I call it Big Bertha.
Done, having plenty of corn and deer meat in the freezer is like being rich.
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